Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Summer's gifts

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog entry. Too long. There's been a lot of water under the bridge.

Let's see, where are we now. It was a busy summer. Kara planted a wonderful organic garden. We're still enjoying the fruits of it. She grew carrots bigger around than my forearm! We enjoy those nearly daily still. And beets! And kale! Still good. I am so proud of all that she grew for our family. I think it's pretty special that she does this for us.

The summer also brought smoke. Long heavy smoke. For 2 month, smoke shrouded the entire valley. It was worse than ever I've seen it before. It was too smokey to play outside. Too smokey to hike. Too smokey to breathe. It was depressing. Ugh. Cough. Then, finally, the wind blew and the air cleared and it rained!

Luken turned 4 this summer. How time flies! He got a bike for his birthday. He asks every day to ride it. Yesterday he informed me that he no longer needs training wheels. We'll see. I'll take them off after Thanksgiving. He's growing SO fast!

His newest proud thing is that he wrote his name fir the first time yesterday! This boy never ceases to amaze me.

He has such challenges yet he forges ahead, not knowing that he is different than most kids. He is autistic. And he doesn't let that get in his way of his enthusiasm for life.

When I say that he's autistic, don't picture him as a silent flapping spinning lost boy. Nope. Not at all. He is very expressive. He talks a blue streak, using a huge vocabulary. His mouth is NEVER still, even while he's sleeping. People that don't know Luken wouldn't know that he's is autistic. But, for those of us who spend lots of time with Luken, it becomes apparent. I knew that something was different about Luken from just a few months of age. I began to suspect Autism when he was about 18 months old. This summer finally brought the official diagnosis.

What else did the summer bring us? Well, lemme think. Kara and I looked hard at our finances. For years, we'd been living on credit, using our one and only credit card to live on, mostly paying off each month. Over the years, we found ourselves slipping slowly farther and farther into debt. We don't have huge debt. Coupla thousand bucks. But living so tightly, it feels like a lot. So, we made the hard decision to cut up our credit card and live "up front". It's taking us longer to pay off our little debt and get everything paid off. Now we pay for our expenses with a debit card or cash. No credit card as a back up. It's scary and hard. We have a way to go. I think we're on the right track though. By this time next year, I see us living "up front", having paid off our little credit card debt.

As long as I'm talking about debt, our medical debt bears mention. Bottom line, we need to get healthy! The way we eat, in large, causes medical problems that get expensive. And, if we're going to have money to pay for the therapies Luken needs, Kara and I, his mommies, better do some long hard thinking and hard actions addressing our health. Not gonna be fun but I think we're up for the task. Encouragement is welcome.

I became a business owner this summer. I joined an awesome company that promotes health, life and prosperity. My job is to promote the 90 Day Body by Vi Challenge. I did the Challenge myself and lost 25 pounds. It's fun and exhilarating. My absolute favorite part of ViSalus is when my customers come back to me and tell me how much Vi has changed their life for the better. When that happens, it makes my day!

Kara and I reached a marital milestone this summer. On June 16th, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! On that evening, we actually had a date! We went to dinner together while a high energy teen and her family chased responsibly after Luken. Marriage isn't what I expected it to be. It's not easy. And if I had it to do over again with Kara, I would. She's stubborn and grouchy and I love her so much.

Ah, it was a busy summer. In some ways very hard. In some ways very good. I was glad when summer arrived. And I'm happy to move on, into fall and winter. I am comforted by the circular nature of, well, nature.